Calibrate Compass?????

[Snow Bird 1]

OK, I get it, if you move location by more than 50 miles, you "should" re-calibrate the compass. And, the app will notify you of that need if it senses an issue etc. Well, I flew in Casa Grande, AZ on Saturday last week, then Sydney, Australia on Monday - app did not tell me to re-calibrate the compass! I did not even think of it until I took off - I landed and then flew very slowly and carefully for a couple of minutes - all good. Now I am 250 miles north of Sydney. I will definitely calibrate before flying, but the obvious question is - should the app or the bird have noticed where I was????

 

[jeffrey]

Just curious... Where did you hear you should recalibrate if more than 50 miles? I've never heard that and don't see it in the manual.

 

[jeffrey]

So I do see different variations of that (this thread says 100), but I don't think the Mavic would ever recognize you're 100 miles away and prompt you. I think that's exactly why the advice to recalibrate.. so the Mavic realizes the different neighborhood.

 

[tmoerel]

Just add compass calibration to your pre flight check list. It only takes a few seconds to do and as such there is no excuse not to do it quickly.
Every location is different. The earth magnetic field is influenced by many things like rock composition or metal interference. Just calibrate each time before you fly and you will eliminate one more possible source of trouble!

 

[ryo]

Mine 90% of times promt me to recalibrate, even if i am flying in the same place. Normal?

 

[KillaMavic]

Just a thought....
I mainly fly in a few locations but these are around 80/90 miles apart, I've done Compass Calibration on ALL sites.... will the Mavic recognise these?
I've not been Prompted

 

[bucefalo]

OK, I get it, if you move location by more than 50 miles, you "should" re-calibrate the compass. And, the app will notify you of that need if it senses an issue etc. Well, I flew in Casa Grande, AZ on Saturday last week, then Sydney, Australia on Monday - app did not tell me to re-calibrate the compass! I did not even think of it until I took off - I landed and then flew very slowly and carefully for a couple of minutes - all good. Now I am 250 miles north of Sydney. I will definitely calibrate before flying, but the obvious question is - should the app or the bird have noticed where I was????

just to let you know.. shortly:
got my mavic pro in HONG KONG no calibration out of the box i flew all good
moved fewe days later in shanghai (1240km or 770 miles distance) NO calibration i flew ALL GOOD
some days later i flew from Shanghai to Seoul 837km or 520 miles NO calibration , I flew, ALL GOOD
some days later i flew back home .. from Seoul to SHANGHAI 9080KM or 5642 miles ... LOOOOL .. no calibration.. i flew... i'm still flying my mavicpro LOL

soooo.......... do NOT calibrate it IF everything is fine... don't !!!
and above all don't try to take off nearby METAL or magnetic things .. i did it once and even though values were all good my mavic pro got CRAZY !
enjoy it

 

[bucefalo]

Mine 90% of times promt me to recalibrate, even if i am flying in the same place. Normal?

i'd have a close look from where you are taking off.. there is probably metal(under the surface..) or other things that create this situation..
try to LIFT the mavic(don't turn it on) and check if compass goes back to green ...

 

[ryo]

i'd have a close look from where you are taking off.. there is probably metal(under the surface..) or other things that create this situation..
try to LIFT the mavic(don't turn it on) and check if compass goes back to green ...

I don't think it's the reason because it happened even when i was on low grass. But will take your suggestion for next flight from my usual spot.
And will pay attention about the promt when mavic off.
Cheers

 

[WheelzWorld]

I don't think it's the reason because it happened even when i was on low grass. But will take your suggestion for next flight from my usual spot.
And will pay attention about the promt when mavic off.
Cheers

Same on mine... I did about 15 calibration yesterday... Took off everything in my pockets but still it showed GPS ok, then soon as I go in settings... GPS error "please recalibrate" [emoji19]

The main controller settings also got grayed out... Had to restart drone, controller & app a few times. Then fly 5min and all over again...

This is driving me nuts... (ipad Latest app, firmware. 0400 here)

 

[ryo]

Same on mine... I did about 15 calibration yesterday... Took off everything in my pockets but still it showed GPS ok, then soon as I go in settings... GPS error "please recalibrate" [emoji19]

The main controller settings also got grayed out... Had to restart drone, controller & app a few times. Then fly 5min and all over again...

This is driving me nuts... (ipad Latest app, firmware. 0400 here)

Well i have to say that after making the calibration i don't have any issues, regularly connect to gps and no changes during flight. Had to recalibrate a few times though because i was standing too close to cars.....
I really don't bother recalibrating each time and maybe as a security habit, but just wondering if everybody is promted to do.

 

[ArranEye]

I think something fundamental has changed with the Mavic. The manual instructs NOT to recalibrate the compass unless asked to do so, which is contrary to Phantoms. I have only received a Mavic compass warning when over metal, so from new have never performed a calibration.

 

[Dragonfly]

I hear all the arguments for and against, but it comes back to, if it aint broke don't fix it.
On our commercial charter boats as part of survey our boats compass is tested and set for accuracy once a year. Its tested for deviation and variation. Each year the earth rotates a little bit further off its axis and its been doing so for hundreds of years. This causes the magnetic poles to differ from true NORTH. Each year it increases by .3 deg to the east if in the Southern hemisphere or .3 deg West if in the Northern Hemisphere. Depending where you are in the world at present its now between 19~20 deg off true North.
Now this DOESNT GHANGE daily or weekly or monthly so once you set or calibrate your compass then its set.
The GPS in your quad determines your position to where you are on earth and will apply the CORRECT DEVATION to your compass, so it doesnt matter if you are in Austrailia (20.1 degE) and move to Singapore (19.7 E) your compass is adjusted by GPS.
Now variation which is local anomalies t is more concerning. These are things like steel in concrete, iron in soil, magnets on your iPad, anything else that has a magnectic pull against the natural earths magnetic feild.
On our boat anything in the wheelhouse or surrounding thats permanent that causes a devation on the compass is accounted for by adjusting the compass as that deviation is permanently there. But for our quads its not as we move around so we cant adjust for it except to take note of the warnings that pop up that say magnectic interference. If its bad then move location. Be aware of your surroundings that may cause magnectic interference or variation.
But the point is once the compass is calibrated unless it is magneticly distruped or misaligned which is checked on startup there is no need to calibrate it unless DJI Go app asks you to do so or by checking the the sensors graph itself in settings you find the numbers very very high. But if the graphs are in the green and the figures are somewhere 0.1~2.0 then you're fine.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

I'm also in the " no calibrate" camp. My Mavic was calibrated at the factory in China, and that was the last time, since I've never done a calibration.

As stated above, apparently something has fundamentally changed with the Mavic, and it ain't like the old days. Many will disagree, and I respect their opinion.

But, for me, if the machine isn't prompting, the indication on the map is accurate, and responsive, there is nothing more I am going to contribute by calibrating.

You can make your own decision based on the evidence.

 

[BossBob]

Same here. I haven't calibrated my Mavic for anything. It has not asked for calibration, is very stable in flight and the map and compass have always corresponded with location and orientation.
I have had it tell me that there was magnetic interference and I should move away, but that was because I'd placed it on the sub woofer which sits next to the door to the garden and the warning went away when I picked the drone up and moved away.

 

[Snow Bird 1]

Wow! All great input, but how varied..... I cannot find where, but I am sure I saw the "need to" re-calibrate when moving 50+ miles. I thought it was a DJI video, but cannot locate there or in instructions etc. Not that I have given up looking because I would not dream that up!!!! I do have an item on my pre-flight to check if required etc, but not to "do" one unless prompted. Thanks everyone!!!

 

[BossBob]

Wow! All great input, but how varied..... I cannot find where, but I am sure I saw the "need to" re-calibrate when moving 50+ miles. I thought it was a DJI video, but cannot locate there or in instructions etc. Not that I have given up looking because I would not dream that up!!!! I do have an item on my pre-flight to check if required etc, but not to "do" one unless prompted. Thanks everyone!!!

When you enter the Go App and are connected to your drone the app offers you the option to calibrate the compass in blue. My understanding is that if the drone NEEDS any sensors calibrating they will be in red. When I check my sensors they all come up green so no calibration.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

OK, I get it, if you move location by more than 50 miles, you "should" re-calibrate the compass. And, the app will notify you of that need if it senses an issue etc. Well, I flew in Casa Grande, AZ on Saturday last week, then Sydney, Australia on Monday - app did not tell me to re-calibrate the compass! I did not even think of it until I took off - I landed and then flew very slowly and carefully for a couple of minutes - all good. Now I am 250 miles north of Sydney. I will definitely calibrate before flying, but the obvious question is - should the app or the bird have noticed where I was????

Any prompts to calibrate come from the firmware detecting something that doesn't make sense with the current readings. Most often it is due to a disturbance nearby. Move away ... no prompt.

I bought a P4P a couple weeks ago. I haven't had many opportunities to fly it (weather, new idiotic Canadian rules) but I haven't calibrated the compass at all (gimbal and IMU, yes, because of the usual list of things to do to correct tilted horizons).

Rarely calibrated it on the MP and one of those was just to rehearse "how to".

(I also haven't gone far afield with either, I admit).

 

[WheelzWorld]

Ok so I'll try to explain my theory... (but remember I'm a newbe) I first got a mavic that came from a batch right before "the rush". Everything was pitch perfect except the water painted issue... As dji seemed to be only able to send me a new unit in end of May (which wasn't an option) I got my money back from the seller and got a new one somewhere else.

Now this new mavic seems to have much more troubles! It flew away for "no apparent reason" one time (crashed actually 2x times into trees) & have MUCH more compass problems! With the first mavic, I had metal in my pockets but could calibrate... Now it seem like a new adventure just to get it to work properly...... [emoji53] i'm starting to get freaking frustrated...

 

[AlanTheBeast]

Ok so I'll try to explain my theory... (but remember I'm a newbe) I first got a mavic that came from a batch right before "the rush". Everything was pitch perfect except the water painted issue... As dji seemed to be only able to send me a new unit in end of May (which wasn't an option) I got my money back from the seller and got a new one somewhere else.

Now this new mavic seems to have much more troubles! It flew away for "no apparent reason" one time (crashed actually 2x times into trees) & have MUCH more compass problems! With the first mavic, I had metal in my pockets but could calibrate... Now it seem like a new adventure just to get it to work properly......

i'm starting to get freaking frustrated...

Is it possible one of the compass sensors has broken loose?

Have you done the "twisted wire" fix? (assuming an early Mavic w/o twisted wires.)